Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Friday, January 15, 2010
A belated new year's eve party
You may recall that last Saturday we celebrated new year's eve... a few days late. Here is photographic evidence of a very enjoyable evening.
The Christmas decorations came out in force... We didn't have time to put up our XL Christmas tree, so we settled for our compact Greek Christmas boat, complete with a small army of Santas - because in Greece Santa comes on new year's eve, not Christmas day. The orangey thing with the tassel is a pomegranate. It symbolises prosperity for the coming year.
This is our drinks station. In case you're wondering, these weren't all the drinks we had. Everything that needed to be kept cold (white wine, rose wine, aquavit, beer and soft drinks) we left outside on the balcony, as it was colder outdoors than inside the fridge.
I bought the festive tablecloth and matching napkins and paper plates half price at the post-Xmas sale. There are definitely advantages to celebrating late :-)
Mini millionaire shortbread squares, mini cappuccino brownie bites and glazed cinnamon stars (zimtstern) were also half price.
Loops made the vasilopita, traditional Greek new year's cake with a hidden coin, to be cut and shared out amongst those present. He or she who finds the coin is supposed to enjoy good luck for the next 12 months.
We also had traditional English Christmas cake (half price), gingerbread Santas (BOGOF) and a selection of Greek "syrup sweets", like kantaifi, touloumba and ravani (not discounted).
Needless to say, we had a lot of food too. No one thought to take any pictures.
We ate, linked hands and did the Auld Lang Syne thing (no photos either), then we cut the vasilopita.
Manni found the coin in her piece and is now looking forward to a good 2010. The rest of us just ate cake.
As we weren't sure if the the vasilopita would turn out OK (neither Loops nor I had ever made one before) we'd ordered a new year cake from a bakery. This one we had for dessert.
Looking at these photos, you may jump to the conclusion that our new year's party was all about eating cake. We did however also have a lot of food and drink, and we danced a bit too. But yes, we ate a lot of cake. In fact, even though most guests took food and cake home with them (Chris and Owen even took a whole veggie pizza), and our neighbour Jenny came round again the next day to help us finish off the leftovers, there is still party food in the house.
Anyone care for a slice of Christmas cake? Or a mini sausage?
The Christmas decorations came out in force... We didn't have time to put up our XL Christmas tree, so we settled for our compact Greek Christmas boat, complete with a small army of Santas - because in Greece Santa comes on new year's eve, not Christmas day. The orangey thing with the tassel is a pomegranate. It symbolises prosperity for the coming year.
This is our drinks station. In case you're wondering, these weren't all the drinks we had. Everything that needed to be kept cold (white wine, rose wine, aquavit, beer and soft drinks) we left outside on the balcony, as it was colder outdoors than inside the fridge.
I bought the festive tablecloth and matching napkins and paper plates half price at the post-Xmas sale. There are definitely advantages to celebrating late :-)
Mini millionaire shortbread squares, mini cappuccino brownie bites and glazed cinnamon stars (zimtstern) were also half price.
Loops made the vasilopita, traditional Greek new year's cake with a hidden coin, to be cut and shared out amongst those present. He or she who finds the coin is supposed to enjoy good luck for the next 12 months.
We also had traditional English Christmas cake (half price), gingerbread Santas (BOGOF) and a selection of Greek "syrup sweets", like kantaifi, touloumba and ravani (not discounted).
Needless to say, we had a lot of food too. No one thought to take any pictures.
We ate, linked hands and did the Auld Lang Syne thing (no photos either), then we cut the vasilopita.
Manni found the coin in her piece and is now looking forward to a good 2010. The rest of us just ate cake.
As we weren't sure if the the vasilopita would turn out OK (neither Loops nor I had ever made one before) we'd ordered a new year cake from a bakery. This one we had for dessert.
Looking at these photos, you may jump to the conclusion that our new year's party was all about eating cake. We did however also have a lot of food and drink, and we danced a bit too. But yes, we ate a lot of cake. In fact, even though most guests took food and cake home with them (Chris and Owen even took a whole veggie pizza), and our neighbour Jenny came round again the next day to help us finish off the leftovers, there is still party food in the house.
Anyone care for a slice of Christmas cake? Or a mini sausage?
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Greek Epiphany carols
OK, this is a self-indulgent post, I'll admit it and give you fair warning.
Today is the Feast of Epiphany. If I were in Greece, I'd be having the day off, and kids would be knocking on my door all morning long to sing the Epiphany carols in exchange for money to buy presents.
Carol singing is an important holiday tradition in Greece. It takes place on Christmas eve, New Year's eve and on the Feast of Epiphany. I have many fond childhood memories of singing carols with my friends and using the money to buy presents for my parents or contribute towards my own Christmas present.
This picture, painted in the 1870's by Nikiforos Lytras, is the most well-known Greek painting with a Christmas theme and one of my personal favourites.
Since I'm in England at the moment, no one has turned up to sing on my doorstep, so I'm having to recreate the sounds of the day via the magic of YouTube. This is what the Epiphany carols would sound like (if a children's choir paid me a visit):
The lyrics roughly translate as follows:
Today is the day of light and enlightment
There is great joy and holy blessing
Our Lady the Blessed Mary
Is down by the Jordan River
She's carrying a harp, a candle she's holding
She's pleading with St. John
St. John, lord and Baptist,
Baptise me, make me a child of God
So I'll be able to ascend to heaven
To gather roses and incense
Good day, good day!
Good day to you, master and mistress!
Since this is an indulgent post, I could even close my eyes and imagine that a cute Cypriot singer turned up to sing for me. This is what he would be sounding like:
I think I know which version I prefer ;-)
Today is the Feast of Epiphany. If I were in Greece, I'd be having the day off, and kids would be knocking on my door all morning long to sing the Epiphany carols in exchange for money to buy presents.
Carol singing is an important holiday tradition in Greece. It takes place on Christmas eve, New Year's eve and on the Feast of Epiphany. I have many fond childhood memories of singing carols with my friends and using the money to buy presents for my parents or contribute towards my own Christmas present.
This picture, painted in the 1870's by Nikiforos Lytras, is the most well-known Greek painting with a Christmas theme and one of my personal favourites.
Since I'm in England at the moment, no one has turned up to sing on my doorstep, so I'm having to recreate the sounds of the day via the magic of YouTube. This is what the Epiphany carols would sound like (if a children's choir paid me a visit):
The lyrics roughly translate as follows:
Today is the day of light and enlightment
There is great joy and holy blessing
Our Lady the Blessed Mary
Is down by the Jordan River
She's carrying a harp, a candle she's holding
She's pleading with St. John
St. John, lord and Baptist,
Baptise me, make me a child of God
So I'll be able to ascend to heaven
To gather roses and incense
Good day, good day!
Good day to you, master and mistress!
Since this is an indulgent post, I could even close my eyes and imagine that a cute Cypriot singer turned up to sing for me. This is what he would be sounding like:
I think I know which version I prefer ;-)
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
The world's gone to pot
Today is the 12th Day of Christmas - the last day for decorations to be taken down, as Christmas celebrations traditionally end on Twelfth Night. So I guess, technically, in England it's still Christmas.
In Greece, the holiday season is going strong, culminating in the Feast of the Epiphany on 6th January.
In Russia, most people haven't even celebrated Christmas, as the Russian Orthodox church still uses the Julian calendar, which has Christmas falling on 7th January.
In Spain, kids are waiting to open their Christmas presents tomorrow, during the Fiesta de Los Reyes Magos.
The Met Office is predicting snow all over the UK (up to 15 cm in places like Manchester and Ceredigion, Wales).
Meanwhile....
...supermarkets across the UK are selling Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies. You may be blissfully unawares, but it's only 88 days to Easter - that's a fact. If you don't start buying your chocolate eggs now, you may soon run out of time and have to endure (shock, horror) a chocolate-less Easter.
In case you think this is too weird to be true, I have photographic proof for you. Yes, I bought Easter chocolate on 5th January. Unbelievable but true.
In my defence, it was for a noble cause (i.e. blogging) - and I managed to resist the temptation of the buy-one-get-one-free packs of freshly baked hot cross buns.
Those Cadbury's Dairy Milk Caramel Bunnies are actually rather nice. Just saying.
In Greece, the holiday season is going strong, culminating in the Feast of the Epiphany on 6th January.
In Russia, most people haven't even celebrated Christmas, as the Russian Orthodox church still uses the Julian calendar, which has Christmas falling on 7th January.
In Spain, kids are waiting to open their Christmas presents tomorrow, during the Fiesta de Los Reyes Magos.
The Met Office is predicting snow all over the UK (up to 15 cm in places like Manchester and Ceredigion, Wales).
Meanwhile....
...supermarkets across the UK are selling Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies. You may be blissfully unawares, but it's only 88 days to Easter - that's a fact. If you don't start buying your chocolate eggs now, you may soon run out of time and have to endure (shock, horror) a chocolate-less Easter.
In case you think this is too weird to be true, I have photographic proof for you. Yes, I bought Easter chocolate on 5th January. Unbelievable but true.
In my defence, it was for a noble cause (i.e. blogging) - and I managed to resist the temptation of the buy-one-get-one-free packs of freshly baked hot cross buns.
Those Cadbury's Dairy Milk Caramel Bunnies are actually rather nice. Just saying.
Friday, January 01, 2010
Festive Athens
Happy new year 2010!
Syntagma Square in central Athens at 12 AM on 1/1/2010When things go according to plan, hubby and I spend Christmas in England and New Year's in Greece, getting the best of both worlds. Christmas is the bigger celebration in England and a relative non-event in Greece. The opposite is true of new year's eve. This is why we try to see in the new year amongst our Greek family and friends, something we decided against this year (I don't know what we were thinking).
Unsurprisingly, we had a very boring new year's eve and an even more boring new year's day - it was so bad that I've promised myself never to spend new year's eve in England again, even if it means I fly out on the 31st December and back on the 1st January!
In case you're wondering why Christmas isn't celebrated much in Greece, this is because in the Eastern Christian (Orthodox) tradition, Christmas isn't considered to be the biggest religious celebration of the year. This position is claimed by Easter, on the basis that it's the ressurection of Christ, not His birth, that made a difference to humankind.
Even Epiphany, which falls on January 6, is considered to be a more important religious feast than Christmas. So from a celebratory point of view, Christmas heralds the start of the holiday season which culminates in Epiphany and has New Year's Eve and New Year's Day in its centre.
Add to this the fact that the Greek Santa Claus brings kids' presents on New Year's Eve rather than Christmas day, and you can see why the 31st December becomes the biggest party day of the year, for children and adults alike.
Preparations are slow before Christmas (no Santa chocolates appearing in Greek supermarkets in September, thank God) but the atmosphere between Christmas and new year is amazing. Everyone's out shopping for new year presents, but not with the same consumerist fervour you see in England. When we lived in Greece we used to go out and do all our shopping in just one day - none of this "147 Shopping Days To Christmas" malarkey that seems to send everyone in the UK in a frenzy round about October time.
Anyway, I digress. The point is that this morning I was feeling rather sorry for myself for not having spent any part of the holiday season in Greece. Then I logged on to Facebook and found that a friend of a friend had posted a load of beautiful photos taken in Athens during December. So here they are: instead of am extra-long new year's day tirade, I've made a photo-post instead.
All photos have been taken by Antonis Toutouzis, who has kindly given me permission to post them on my blog. Many thanks, Antoni, and a happy new year to you!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Christmas is over
We've...
eaten the last of the mince pies
drunk copious amounts of Glühwein and Aquavit, along with several cans of Carlsberg and a few bottles of Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon
eaten more turkey than the rest of the year put together: roast turkey, cold turkey, turkey sandwiches, turkey stew (enough said)
watched Love Actually - along with the Matrix trilogy (well, hubby watched the trilogy, I watched Keanu Reeves)
been to the Christmas market - twice
listened to and sung carols
met up with friends for Christmas drinks
pulled crackers, laughed at silly jokes, wore paper hats and played board games
spent time with the extended family
sent and received Christmas cards
exchanged presents
eaten more satsumas, nuts, chocolates, biscuits, cakes and puddings than it's possible without bursting
Things that we've not done (must make note for next year):
We've not...
put up a Christmas tree or any Christmas decorations at home
seen a Christmas pantomime
watched the Queen's speech (Ooops!)
Looking at this list, I'd say all in all Christmas has been successful. Roll on the new year!
eaten the last of the mince pies
drunk copious amounts of Glühwein and Aquavit, along with several cans of Carlsberg and a few bottles of Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon
eaten more turkey than the rest of the year put together: roast turkey, cold turkey, turkey sandwiches, turkey stew (enough said)
watched Love Actually - along with the Matrix trilogy (well, hubby watched the trilogy, I watched Keanu Reeves)
been to the Christmas market - twice
listened to and sung carols
met up with friends for Christmas drinks
pulled crackers, laughed at silly jokes, wore paper hats and played board games
spent time with the extended family
sent and received Christmas cards
exchanged presents
eaten more satsumas, nuts, chocolates, biscuits, cakes and puddings than it's possible without bursting
Things that we've not done (must make note for next year):
We've not...
put up a Christmas tree or any Christmas decorations at home
seen a Christmas pantomime
watched the Queen's speech (Ooops!)
Looking at this list, I'd say all in all Christmas has been successful. Roll on the new year!
Sunday, December 27, 2009
The holiday so far...
On Christmas Eve we attended the Midnight Eucharist service at the Cathedral Church of St Andrew in Wells, Somerset, along with 950 other people. It was a beautiful service and the ambience was amazing - despite the low temps both outside and inside the church.
Christmas morning - time for presents! Although we had a £5 upper spend limit, we all enjoyed our presents.
The two elves whose boots you can see on the left hand side of this photo produced an impressive selection of home-made mince pies and truffles.
Christmas lunch about to be served. Christmas crackers were pulled with much gusto - I won both times!
As you can see, we had all the trimmings: roast potatoes, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cranberry jelly, crackling and pigs in blankets. We forgot the stuffing balls, so we had them for tea instead.
Christmas pudding and Christmas cake were served for dessert.
When we run out of Christmasy desserts, we made a maple syrup fondue. Fruit pieces and stale bread were perfect for dipping.
Finally, a walk to see the Paul Toole Holiday Light Show - easily the most elaborately decorated Christmas house we've come across this year!
Friday, December 25, 2009
Merry Christmas!
NATIVITY by Terry GabbeyChristmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do for others is good you do yourself.
(Written by Norman W. Brooks)
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
The food diaries: part 8 - Christmas party
Last week we went to our first Christmas party, organised by hubby's employers. Instead of a simple affair at one of the local hotels, this year we were invited to a fancy ball which included a sit-down 3-course dinner followed by live entertainment and a casino.
The food was OK, not exceptional, but certainly an improvement on last year (local hotel = mediocre food). Here's what we had:
Starter was a carpaccio of raw beef. I wished I'd pretended to be vegetarian and had the filo-pastry-with-something-or-other instead (not photographed, as we had no veggies at our table).
Main course was traditional turkey with veg and a generous helping of cranberry sauce. It took us a while to work out that the veg wasn't coming separately, but was hidding under a patty made of stuffing and two slabs of turkey. D'oh!
Dessert was a choice between a mini bread and butter pudding with Baileys (which sounds lovely, only you couldn't really taste the Baileys)...
...or a colourful fruit salad.
I had the pudding, but in retrospect the fruit salad would have been a better choice. Never mind. I'm sure I burned the extra calories on the dance floor.
The food was OK, not exceptional, but certainly an improvement on last year (local hotel = mediocre food). Here's what we had:
Starter was a carpaccio of raw beef. I wished I'd pretended to be vegetarian and had the filo-pastry-with-something-or-other instead (not photographed, as we had no veggies at our table).
Main course was traditional turkey with veg and a generous helping of cranberry sauce. It took us a while to work out that the veg wasn't coming separately, but was hidding under a patty made of stuffing and two slabs of turkey. D'oh!
Dessert was a choice between a mini bread and butter pudding with Baileys (which sounds lovely, only you couldn't really taste the Baileys)...
...or a colourful fruit salad.
I had the pudding, but in retrospect the fruit salad would have been a better choice. Never mind. I'm sure I burned the extra calories on the dance floor.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Getting ready
I've had a manicure - got my nails painted a vampy dark purple.
I've had my hair cut short and dyed black.
I've lost enough weight to go down a dress size.
I'm ready for the Christmas party season!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Festive Fairies
Back in the UK, I found the Hotel Chocolat Christmas catalogue waiting for me. I'm still not ready for Christmas, but at least it's not August any more, and what's more, the weather's so gloomy at the moment, it feels almost like Christmas time anyway.
So I'm leafing through the catalogue, dreaming of all the chocolate I'll enjoy come December, when I come across The Festive Foursome: four boxes of chocolates in festive shapes. There are Chilli Penguins, Minty Mistletoe, Baublicious Baubles and ...Festive Fairies; fairies, I might note, that look remarkably like angels. Praying angels to be exact.
The product description reads: Two layers of heavenly caramel and creamy white [sic] chocolate nymphs for a fairytale Christmas.
Nymphs? Nymphs? So OK, perhaps we can't eat angels, so we have to call them fairies on the box, but since when is there a connection between nymphs and Christmas? Whatever next? Christmas Mermaids? Christmas Centaurs? Or maybe Christmas Sirens?
Santa, baubles, penguins, snowmen, reindeer... it's all getting a bit repetitive. We could use some new characters. Can you imagine?
I wonder how many business meetings they had over at Hotel Chocolat when they realised that someone had approved the wrong design and they now had a load of perfectly formed chocolate angels to market. I bet it took them a while to agree to call them "fairies" and describe them as "nymphs". Bless.
They don't appear to be made from white chocolate either. Oops.
So I'm leafing through the catalogue, dreaming of all the chocolate I'll enjoy come December, when I come across The Festive Foursome: four boxes of chocolates in festive shapes. There are Chilli Penguins, Minty Mistletoe, Baublicious Baubles and ...Festive Fairies; fairies, I might note, that look remarkably like angels. Praying angels to be exact.
The product description reads: Two layers of heavenly caramel and creamy white [sic] chocolate nymphs for a fairytale Christmas.
Nymphs? Nymphs? So OK, perhaps we can't eat angels, so we have to call them fairies on the box, but since when is there a connection between nymphs and Christmas? Whatever next? Christmas Mermaids? Christmas Centaurs? Or maybe Christmas Sirens?
Santa, baubles, penguins, snowmen, reindeer... it's all getting a bit repetitive. We could use some new characters. Can you imagine?
*shudder*
I wonder how many business meetings they had over at Hotel Chocolat when they realised that someone had approved the wrong design and they now had a load of perfectly formed chocolate angels to market. I bet it took them a while to agree to call them "fairies" and describe them as "nymphs". Bless.
They don't appear to be made from white chocolate either. Oops.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Santa has landed
Honestly he has. I took this photo at my local supermarket earlier today. Only 87 days, 11 hours, 48 minutes, and 54 seconds left until Christmas - better start shopping, you don't want to leave it to the last moment now, do you?
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Let it snow! Uh?
As if the sudden arrival of autumn weather wasn't enough, Xmas is creeping up on us too! I was happily queuing at my local post office the other day, when I spotted this gift card with an unmistakeably Christmassy logo!
I closed my eyes, shook my head and tutted, thinking how it was too soon for holly. Then I walked into my local M&S and what did I see? Shelves full of biscuits and a display of Christmas chocolates!
It won't be long before supermarket shelves are stocked full with boxes of mince pies and Christmas cakes. In fact, it seems as if some have already started and I'm not the only one who's noticed either.
In case anyone's wondering, my Unicef Christmas catalogue arrived promptly on 1st August, like every year. I swear, I can always rely on Unicef to remind me I need to start preparing for my summer holidays, as they always, without fail, remember me on 1st August.
The Unicef Christmas catalogue joined the recycling heap, unopened. I know they'll send me two more before November, by which time I may just be in the mood to look at pictures of snowy villages and Christmas trees.
I closed my eyes, shook my head and tutted, thinking how it was too soon for holly. Then I walked into my local M&S and what did I see? Shelves full of biscuits and a display of Christmas chocolates!
It won't be long before supermarket shelves are stocked full with boxes of mince pies and Christmas cakes. In fact, it seems as if some have already started and I'm not the only one who's noticed either.
In case anyone's wondering, my Unicef Christmas catalogue arrived promptly on 1st August, like every year. I swear, I can always rely on Unicef to remind me I need to start preparing for my summer holidays, as they always, without fail, remember me on 1st August.
The Unicef Christmas catalogue joined the recycling heap, unopened. I know they'll send me two more before November, by which time I may just be in the mood to look at pictures of snowy villages and Christmas trees.
Monday, January 05, 2009
New Year celebrations continue
You know how in most of the western world there's a build up to Christmas that starts in early November (or late September if you're in England) and then Christmas happens, and new year happens and then everything returns to normal a couple of days later? Well, in Greece, it's the opposite. People start thinking "Christmas" sometime in December, then Christmas happens and it's invariably very low key, and then things really take off as everybody starts preparing for the new year celebrations - which go on throughout January. It's really quite amazing. Every day there seems to be another gathering at a friend's or relative's house, where we eat a lot, drink moderately and cut another new year cake. Here's a selection of the ones we've cut so far. Neither myself nor hubby have been lucky enough to find the coin in our pieces, but we've not given up yet.
There has been lots more cakes too. Christmassy melomakarona & kourabiedes...
Traditional baklava...
And of course scrumptious chocolate-covered tsoureki (brioche-type bread).
As if cakes aren't enough, food has been plentiful too. I have tried my best to resist, but what can I say? It's not easy.
This pork stew and pasta cooked in a clay pot gets my "tastiest dish ever" award.
In an attempt to shift the 2 kilos we've put on, this evening we went for a wander round town, even though it was raining. We even had a whirl at the skating rink. Not sure if it was enough in terms of exercise (I suspect not), but at least we didn't do what we did every other day of this holiday so far, that is, sit by the fire and stuff our faces with delicious food and cakes.
Tomorrow is another day - and another opportunity to try our luck with another new year cake!
There has been lots more cakes too. Christmassy melomakarona & kourabiedes...
Traditional baklava...
And of course scrumptious chocolate-covered tsoureki (brioche-type bread).
As if cakes aren't enough, food has been plentiful too. I have tried my best to resist, but what can I say? It's not easy.
This pork stew and pasta cooked in a clay pot gets my "tastiest dish ever" award.
In an attempt to shift the 2 kilos we've put on, this evening we went for a wander round town, even though it was raining. We even had a whirl at the skating rink. Not sure if it was enough in terms of exercise (I suspect not), but at least we didn't do what we did every other day of this holiday so far, that is, sit by the fire and stuff our faces with delicious food and cakes.
Tomorrow is another day - and another opportunity to try our luck with another new year cake!
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